


she carries their broken dreams

by blueh



Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen, Pre-Time Skip, and i just have FEELINGS about that okay, outsider pov, set during two years training, they left the Sunny alone for two years
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-12-07 10:40:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11621844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueh/pseuds/blueh
Summary: Soon, stories erupted around the island. About the ship hidden in the groves, waiting, waitingwaiting. Waiting to sail on the sea again, wild and free, waiting for her crew that will never appear.It became something to tell children at night, a way to scare them when they misbehave: “you better stop or the ship’s crew will appear again and take with you away.”also known as: when the Strawhats disappeared on Sabaody, they leave one friend behind.





	she carries their broken dreams

When the Strawhats disappear, Sabaody is silent.

Those who had seen the events—carefully peaking from their homes, windows closed and eyes weary—say it was a slaughter.

One by one the crew disappears; dead or alive, the people did not know. It happens once, then twice, then _thrice_ ( _on and on and on_ ) until there was no one except the weeping captain left. The captain, who was on his last legs, who could barley stand, begging to _bring them back._ He yells and _sobs,_ beating the ground, _screaming_ —

_“I COULD SAVE A SINGLE ONE!”_

His cries were said to reach the far ends of the archipelago.

Then he, too, was met with the same fate.

 

* * *

 

 

The people of Sabaody don’t hear about about the captain for another week.

Then suddenly he is _there,_ on the Den Den Mushis, right in the middle of the war in Marineford. There are gasps—of horror, of wonder—as a single man changed the entire _feeling_ of the war. It was going up and up and _up_ —

The Den Den Mushis cuts out.

The papers come out the next day.

The war, a marine victory, left both Whitebeard and the son of the Pirate King dead. Some mourn, most celebrate.

There is no mention of Whitebeard’s allies, of how they escaped. There is no mention of the lives lost or the benefits gained. There is no mention of the effects of such a drastic action, of how the seas will doubtfully change.

There is no mention of the captain who lost his entire crew just a week earlier. 

The people of Sabaody never expect to see him again.

 

* * *

 

 

But they do.

He shows up in the papers just a few short days after, beaten and covered in bandages. They wonder _why_ he goes back to a place with so much suffering, so much loss. There is talk in the bars—wild theories of why he went back, what he was doing—but not one of them understands the significance.

They don’t understand because the message was not for them.

 

* * *

 

 

The stories started six months after the captain’s disappearance.

He was the talk of the island for the last few months; the captain who lost and lost and _lost_. Some that dare whisper his name tell stories about the boy who challenged the world for a friend, who razed an entire battlefield with only his will. Others curse and rave, telling everyone that the captain was as good as dead.

 _It would be better off for everyone_ , they claim.

 

* * *

 

 

Their ship is found by a group of children.

Tucked behind the trees of Grove 42, it is hard to spot and even harder to get to. The children stare, amazed, for they recognize the Jolly Roger that waved proudly from the mast of the colorful ship. None of them were brave enough to go closer, too afraid that the pirate crew that disappeared would show up again.

They head home, chatting happily to their families about their discovery. The adults worry, but know that the crew and their captain are _gone._

They know that the ship is the only thing left behind.

 

* * *

 

 

The children stop by to see the ship every day and every day it stayed there, waiting for a crew that would never come back. The children giggle and talk, throwing rocks and trying to hit the deck.

Soon, stories erupted around the island. About the ship hidden in the groves, waiting, waiting _waiting_. Waiting to sail on the sea again, wild and free, waiting for her crew that will never appear.

It became something to tell children at night, a way to scare them when they misbehave: “ _you better stop or the ship’s crew will appear again_   _and take_ _with you away.”_

 

* * *

 

 

People come, trying to take the ship away, but are stopped. A man in leather, gaze steely surrounded by friends and flying fish. No one is able to touch the ship, to harm a single piece of wood. Each day they appear, each day they were beaten and bloodied, but fight and fight and _fight_ —

“Why are you protecting this ship?!” someone cries.

The man grins and winks, “They helped me, so I will help them in return and protect this ship until they return!”

Not _if_ they return like so many on the island say, but _when._

 

* * *

 

 

Two years after the crew’s disappearance, they _do_ return. And take the entire island by storm yet again. 

But this time it did not end in defeat. The crew, all of them, happy and wandering the streets of Sabaody, sing about a  _new beginning._ They fight with a vigor never seen before, all the while with smiles on their faces. Slowly, they reunite and the cheer increases. 

 _We're finally together again_ the crew says, _with our friends._

Then the captain appears. 

The same captain who barged into the war (T _he War of Best_ , is what its being called now), the same captain who burned Enies Lobby to the ground. The same captain who lost and lost and _lost_.

Except this time, he was not going to lose any more. 

All of them make it to the ship— _their_ ship.

Their ship, who had been hidden in Grove 42 for more than two years, seems to shine and smiles were tossed all around. The people stare, amazed, because for the first time the ship was _finally_ leaving and the crew that left her behind had _finally_ returned.

All the while, the lion’s head stood proudly, for she already knew they would return.


End file.
